Colgate University has joined forces with five other upstate liberal arts colleges to explore potential cost-saving measures and to share best practices in areas such as student life and staff development.
Besides Colgate, the New York Six consortium consists of Hamilton College, Clinton; St. Lawrence University, Canton; Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva; Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs; and Union College, Schenectady.
The colleges hope there will be cost advantages in joining together to procure the goods and services necessary to operate a residential undergraduate college. They also see opportunities for collaboration in educational support, student life activities, and sustainability initiatives.
"We are actively looking to address ways to contain costs while continuing to maximize the academic experience we provide our students," said Lyle Roelofs, interim president at Colgate.
The consortium is funded through a one-year planning grant of $100,000 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The group hired a project manager, Amy Doonan Cronin, who will be based at Hamilton College and will work in consultation with administrators and others on each campus.
The New York Six will focus on six broad areas:
• Harnessing technology to allow for greater collaboration in all areas, with emphasis on shared human resources, high end computing collaboration and advanced computer infrastructure.
• Acquiring of goods and services, including benchmarking, joint purchasing and risk management.
• Promoting sustainable institutional environments, including recycling operations and alternative energy supplies.
• Maximizing student engagement, including wellness programming, alcohol and substance abuse intervention strategies, responses to differential learning styles, and collaboration among teaching and learning centers.
• Shaping workforces, including faculty development, staff development, and preparation of future academic leaders.
• Fostering intercultural literacy, including strategies for ensuring students are prepared to live in a global and diverse world.
Colgate already has in place a campus-based task force that is investigating options for a strategic realignment of the university's operating budget.
The Economic Environment Working Group (EEG) was formed as a result of the national economic downturn and investment losses sustained by the university's endowment since the summer of 2008.
The EEG has been meeting with members of the Colgate community to gather suggestions and studying actions being taken at other institutions.
"The working group and the consortium are two mechanisms for us to explore possibilities as we work to maintain Colgate's academic quality while reducing costs," said David Hale, vice president for administration and finance at the university. "This is a time when we need to be thinking openly and creatively about our options."